Commentary notes (CN):

1. SMALL CAPS Indicate editions. Notes for each commentator are divided into three parts:

In the 1st two lines of a record, when the name of the source text (the siglum) is printed in SMALL CAPS, the comment comes from an EDITION; when it is in normal font, it is derived from a book, article, ms. record or other source. We occasionally use small caps for ms. sources and for works related to editions. See bibliographies for complete information (in process).

2. How comments are related to predecessors' comments. In the second line of a record, a label "without attribution" indicates that a prior writer made the same or a similar point; such similarities do not usually indicate plagiarism because many writers do not, as a practice, indicate the sources of their glosses. We provide the designation ("standard") to indicate a gloss in common use. We use ≈ for "equivalent to" and = for "exactly alike."

3. Original comment. When the second line is blank after the writer's siglum, we are signaling that we have not seen that writer's gloss prior to that date. We welcome correction on this point.

4. Words from the play under discussion (lemmata). In the third line or lines of a record, the lemmata after the TLN (Through Line Number] are from Q2. When the difference between Q2 and the authors' lemma(ta) is significant, we include the writer's lemma(ta). When the gloss is for a whole line or lines, only the line number(s) appear. Through Line Numbers are numbers straight through a play and include stage directions. Most modern editions still use the system of starting line numbers afresh for every scene and do not assign line numbers to stage directions.

5. Bibliographic information. In the third line of the record, where we record the gloss, we provide concise bibliographic information, expanded in the bibliographies, several of which are in process.

6. References to other lines or other works. For a writer's reference to a passage elsewhere in Ham. we provide, in brackets, Through Line Numbers (TLN) from the Norton F1 (used by permission); we call these xref, i.e., cross references. We call references to Shakespearean plays other than Ham. “parallels” (//) and indicate Riverside act, scene and line number as well as TLN. We call references to non-Shakespearean works “analogues.”

7. Further information: See the Introduction for explanations of other abbreviations. Click here for more information about browsing the entries and here for more information about the special symbols used in Hamletworks. Click the question mark icon above to remove this help message.

1766- mwar2

mwar2

1248 how...are] Warner (1766-70): “Pregnant i.e. plain, apparent, ready— vid. M.f.M. pge. 18.”

1778 v1778

v1778

1248 pregnant] Steevens (ed. 1778): “Pregnant is ready, dexterous, apt.”

1248 pregnant] Steevens (ed. 1778, 5:461 n. 2): “Pregnancy [2H4 1.2.? (000)] is readiness. So in Hamlet, ‘How pregnant his replies are?’ Steevens.”

1784 ays

ays

1248 pregnant] Ayscough (ed. 1784): “Pregnant is ready, dexterous, apt.”

1785 v1785

v1785 = v1778

1791- rann

rann

1248 pregnant] Rann (ed. 1791-): “—apt, pertinent.”

1793 v1793

v1793 = v1785 minus STEEVENS + magenta underlining

Steevens(ed. 1793): “Pregnant is ready, dexterous, apt. So, in The Twelveth Night: ‘--a wickedness Wherein the pregnant enemy doth much.’”

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1803

1815 Becket

Becket = v1813 +

1248 pregnant] Becket (1815, p. 35): “‘Pregnant’ is something more than dexterous, or apt. It here means, full of consequence.” </p. 35>

1819- m cald1

mcald1

1248 pregnant ] Caldecott (ms. notes in ed. 1819) “ ‘The dull and stupid and envy the pregnant and learned.’ Haywood’s Hierarchies of Angels. 1635.p.448.”

1821 v1821

v1821 = v1813

1869 Romdahl

Romdahl

1248 pregnant] Romdahl (1869, p. 24): “full of wit, ingenious. — The metaphorical senses of this word by which it has applied to the productiveness of mind, genius, argument, etc, are now in general obsolete. The word was used with great laxity, and sometimes abused, as fashionable terms are; but generally may be referred to the ruling sense of being full, or productive of something” 1). 1) Nares p. 682.

1874 corson

corson

1247 out of the ayre] Corson (1874, p. 21): “Indeed that is out o’ th’ Ayre: F. Indeed, that’s out of the air. C. The proper elocution requires that ’is’ be made emphatic, which it cannot be if contracted as in the C.

1881 hud2

hud2 ≈ Becket

1247-8 pregnant] Hudson (ed. 1881): “Pregnant, here, is pithy, full of meaning, or of pertinency.”

1899 ard1

ard1

1248 pregnant] Dowden (ed. 1899): “Compare Jonson’s Every Man in His Humour, I I. I.: ‘Dame Kitely: For love’s sake, sweetheart, come in out of the air. Kitely: How simple, and how subtle are her answers!’ This curious parallel is found in Jonson’s Folio 1616, and in the Quarto 1601. Shakespeare acted in Jonson’s play; perhaps this is an echo that lived in his brain.”